Learning Croatian – Phrase of the Day

You know some basic Croatian, enough to get you by, but there is nothing that will impress more than knowing a local phrase or slang that you can slip into a conversation. Croatia Week has launched its ‘Word / Phrase of the Day’, where we will teach you a variety of words and phrases commonly used in Croatia, but not commonly found in language learning material.

Today’s Phrase

Lako je s tuđim po koprivi mlatit’

The phrase Lako je s tuđim po koprivi mlatit’ basically means ‘It is easy with other people’s things to misuse them”, such as spending other people’s money, thrashing someone elses car, or general misuse of something. The literal translation is – Easy with other people’s to thrash the Nettle (plants with stinging hair)

Example:  Did you see Vincent thrashing around in the new silver Mercedes? He is gonna do some damage….Lako je s tuđim po koprivi mlatit’, its his father’s car.

Recent Phrases

– 13/02/2014 – Tresla se brda, rodio se miš
– 10/02/2014 – U laži su kratke noge
– 05/02/2014 – Živi kao bubreg u loju
– 03/02/2014 – Prošla baba s kolačima
– 30/01/2014 – Bog je prvo sebi bradu stvorio
– 29/01/2014 – Svakog gosta tri dana dosta
– 27/01/2014 – Pamet u glavu
– 23/01/2014 – Malo Sutra
– 21/01/2014 – Ja u kupe, a ti u špade
– 20/01/2014 – Di si bija kad je grmilo
– 17/01/2014 – Bogu iza nogu
– 16/01/2014 – Stara koka, dobra juha
– 15/01/2014 – Da ga nema trebalo bi ga izmisliti
– 14/01/2014 – Nit’ smrdi, nit’ mirise

If you have a candidate for ‘Word / Phrase of the Day’, then submit them to [email protected] to be published.